Connor Locke has only given his heart away once, to a man
who left him alone with only a note as an explanation. He has tried to move on,
but no one compared to the one who left him brokenhearted and alone.

Harry grew up as a black sheep in his family, and when he
met Connor he thought he finally found a place to call home. The strong, yet
loving lawyer gave him things he never thought he’d find. But then he had to
leave, and that decision ended up ruining his life.

After years apart, the couple is finally reunited, but not
in a way either of them expects. A crime lord wants Harry badly, and he will do
anything to get him. Will Connor be able to keep Harry safe and salvage their
love, or will he lose Harry forever?

Harry was amazed when Connor brought him to his condo and demanded he sleep in his bed. That wasn’t the surprising part, though—no, the true shock came once they snuggled down under the covers in nothing but sweatpants. Connor just held him close in his strong arms and fell asleep. No demanding, no talking, no touching. Just sleep.

It was the most precious gift that Connor could give him. Harry couldn’t recall the last time he had been in a man’s house, in his bed, and not be expected to do something. So, once Connor’s breathing had evened out in sleep, it was the easiest thing in the world for Harry to follow behind him. For the second night in a row, Harry had a peaceful sleep with no nightmares and no one waking him, demanding sex.

When the sun peeked in between the blinds and woke him up, Harry almost wanted to cry. He longed for the easy escape that the dark nothingness of sleep provided him. Being awake brought back all the evil and fears of the world, neither of which he could escape. When something tightened around his chest, pulling him against a hard body, Harry stiffened. Where was he? More importantly, who was he with? Would he demand to be serviced or just let him go in peace?

“Shh, baby. It’s just me.”

Harry choked on a sob at the familiar, comforting voice. He had forgotten he was at Connor’s house. He was safe there.

Harry buried his face in Connor’s chest, letting the hot tears of relief flow. He moaned when strong fingers sank into his long hair and pressed himself into the contact. Out of the hundreds of men who had touched him in the past few years, only Connor brought him any measure of peace. His body only craved Connor’s touch.

He wanted to beg for the man to take him, to own his body in such a way that he would forget about the others, the faceless johns who had touched him when Connor should have been the only one. But he couldn’t. He wouldn’t find out until later that day if he was clean, and even if he ended up being pristine, that didn’t take away from the blackness covering his soul. He had been dirtied. Each nameless trick had left their blackened mark on him. How could Connor want him anymore when he was used and filthy?

Connor held him the entire time he cried without saying a word. He provided comforting noises and ran his hands up and down Harry’s back. When Harry’s tears dried up, and his hitched breathing finally returned to normal, he pulled back enough to look up at the man who held him and gave a shaky smile.

“I’m sorry about that.”

“Don’t be.” Connor shook his head, refusing to accept his apology. “You can always open up with me, baby. Even if that means bawling your eyes out on my shoulder.”

Ruby MacIntyre was born and raised in Kansas and has always been an avid reader.
It’s beyond a mere hobby or escape from reality; it’s her passion. Because of
her love for reading, writing her own stories—giving voices and happy endings
to the people that live in her head—was only natural. She may be relatively new
to the gay romance genre, but once Ruby found it, she never looked back. Now it’s all she reads (the hotter the better!), and she is quite content with the
sexy men that dwell in her head, clamoring for her attention. When Ruby’s not
reading, she’s writing, and vice-versa. Books have always been her life and
likely always will be.

In the rare occasions Ruby isn’t working, reading, or writing, she loves to play
or cuddle with her dog and cat, watch a movie, or hang with family. She loves
books (duh), pretty notebooks, snowflakes, and the color yellow.

1) Describe your relationship with a good book.It’s not a healthy relationship. I don’t want to eat, sleep, work, or keep up with any of my responsibilities. It becomes my obsession. I need to read and read and read, maybe read some parts over again, and read some more until I’ve consumed it and lived it and breathed it and sleeped it.

2) When did you first start writing and what was the first thing that you wrote that you were proud of?I’ve been writing forever, it seems. Nothing really stuck until I penned an epic fantasy novel that was a whopping 100,000 words long. It took me a year or so to write, and I remember being filled with so much pride when I printed it off and held it in my hand. I felt that same pride having my first MM novel accepted at a publisher. I love every work I create as a child. I put a piece of myself into each one.

3) Please describe your work ethic as an author.That has changed the more I’ve written. When I first started, every free second I had, I was writing. Now…not so much. I have work, and a fur baby, and family and obligations and fun time too. But I try to set aside time each week to sit down and write.

4) How do you balance your work as an author with the other aspects of your life?It’s difficult, because sometimes I feel like life overtakes my personal time. But I try. I’ve been dealing with some personal issues these past few months that leaves me so little time to write, but I fight for it. And that’s what makes my writing so special to me. All my emotions build up, and the story builds up, and by the time I can sit down to write it out, it flows almost faster than what I can keep up with.

5) Why did you write this book?Connor’s story needed to be written. I knew his pain, and I knew his heartache, but I didn’t really know why until the end of Forging Bonds. That’s when Harry made himself known to me. And that’s all it took. Everything flowed from there – Pinstripe, Beverly, Jones, Connor, and Harry… It hardly needed work, because it all flew from my fingers. The hard part was the deep emotional aspect of this story. Delving into Harry’s psyche was like wading through mud. He was so, so hard to write and I found myself hating my writing, thinking it was crap, thinking that I would have to redo the entire thing. And then I would read through what I had just written and wonder how in the heck I managed to create such beautiful emotion. But I think that’s just how Harry is, inside and out. He’s been hurt and lived through hell, and he’s wounded, but his heart remained pure. He’s one of my favorite people.

6) What experiences from your past do you find yourself drawing upon repeatedly for inspiration in your work?I didn’t consciously do anything like that. The realm of sex slavery, lawyers/law, and fighting crime is really not anything I have experience with. But it was important to write the story as I saw it. One of the things I love about my writing is that I don’t need to draw from my life experiences to write stories. They can be different, and they are. My life is so boring, so trust me, it wouldn’t make a good story.

7) What do you hope to accomplish in the next five years, both as an author and in your outside life?I want to write stories that touch people. I want to reach a wider audience, and I want to be a name that makes people smile when they think of me. I love to read and I love to write. And I want to meet people who appreciate what I like to read and who I can connect with, even if they don’t read my stories. I love the connections I’ve made as an author, and I just want to experience more of that.

8) Since you are a storyteller, please tell one good lie about yourself.I’m not good at this game. I’d want it to be epic, but it wouldn’t be. I’m no good under pressure. 

One moment. That’s all it takes for life as you once knew it to change irrevocably. For Michael Kingston, that moment was when he first laid eyes on Gabriel. In his life, Michael had only known darkness, leaving behind a broken shell of a man. Unspeakable memories of his childhood constantly plagued him, causing him to disconnect emotionally from the world. No one had ever shown him love; therefore, he believed that he was unworthy of it. And then everything changed.

Gabriel Greyson had always been different. Growing up in a small, Bible-thumping town, his preferences for men, makeup, and fashion made him an outcast. But, with the support and love of his family, he overcame obstacles thrown his way and rose above the intolerance. He danced to the beat of his own glammed-out drum and refused to believe that he was anything other than ultra-fabulous. Working as a beautician, he had a job he adored and felt that everything was perfect in his life. Everything except for true love.

When these two men meet, sparks fly. For the first time in Michael’s life, he feels he can overcome the darkness inside him. Gabriel gives him hope and slowly brings him out of the shadows, showing him that even the darkest souls can be redeemed. But there are secrets that Michael keeps locked away. Michael’s fear is that Gabriel will turn away when he discovers the truth. After all, who could ever love a beast?

Jaclyn Osborn was born and raised in the state of Arkansas. When not working her day job, she spends her days writing, reading, and having epic Lord of the Rings movie marathons. All types of genres interest her in the MM world and she hopes to delve into a few of them in her writing career.

When I am reading an excellent book, everything around me disappears and I transport myself into the world I’m reading about. For me, a good book doesn’t have to be a specific genre or point of view. A good book is simply a story that touches me in some way. If it can evoke a strong emotion from me, whether it be sadness, whimsical fantasies, or rage, I consider it a job well done from the author who wrote it.

When did you first start writing and what was the first thing that you wrote that you were proud of?

I’ve been writing since I was eleven. The first thing I wrote that I was proud of was when I was in the 10th grade. I had just read “The Lord of the Flies” by William Golding and fell in love with it. For fun, I decided to write an alternate ending for the book. I showed it to my English teacher and she was in awe, saying that it read like it could have actually been part of the original. That was an amazing compliment.

Please describe your work ethic as an author.

I write every day. On the weekends, I have a part-time job at a movie theater, but throughout the week, I dedicate my days to my true passion, writing. After the coffee is made, I pull out my laptop and get to work. I start writing around 9am and I stop around 5pm.

How do you balance your work as an author with the other aspects of your life?

It’s hard, I’m not going to lie. Even when I’m not writing, I’m writing. If that makes sense. To balance things, I set a writing schedule daily. 9am to 5pm. After that, I allow myself to visit with people, read a book that isn’t mine, watch a movie, go out shopping, etc. But even when I’m doing those things, story ideas and scenarios are still running through my head.

Why did you write this book?

Great question! One of my main characters from this book, Gabriel, had appeared in my head months before I actually started writing the book. Way before I even thought I COULD write a book. I was an active role-player on Facebook for a popular paranormal romance book series, so I was always writing fan-fiction for characters that belonged to someone else. That started bothering me. I wanted my own characters. So, I created Gabriel. A few of my best friends kept saying that I needed to write a book and then it hit me who Gabriel was. When I first started writing “Michael’s Awakening”, I didn’t even think I was going to be able to get it published. But then a wonderful friend of mine intervened and told me about her publisher, and that’s how I was introduced to Encompass Ink.

What experiences from your past do you find yourself drawing upon repeatedly for inspiration in your work?

When I write, I try to write a book that I would like to read. I have always been huge on soulmate stories in the past, so I drew upon that while writing this book. As for actual experiences that help inspire my work, I find myself writing stories that take place in small towns or country settings. I’m from the South so it’s easy to draw inspiration from that.

What do you hope to accomplish in the next five years, both as an author and in your outside life?

As an author, I hope to keep writing and releasing stories. There are so many ideas I have for future projects and I really hope to delve into them. They all are still M/M romance, but the genres are different, ranging from paranormal to historical romance. In my outside life, I hope to be able to write full-time and not have my second job.

Since you are a storyteller, please tell one good lie about yourself.

I will finish all of my current writings in progress before I start working on new ones. *lips twitch*

Gabriel’s lips were like that metaphorical cliff that appeared in our minds when we were faced with a decision that would ultimately alter our lives, a decision that would forever change who we are. I suspected from the beginning that he possessed a power that would tie me to him forever if I were to get too close.

His beauty and grace had first caught my eye, but now his inner fire had scorched my soul. If I were to claim Gabriel’s lips with mine, I would never be the same again.